County of Wetaskiwin: Off Highway Vehicles

[ZIG]

the plate by law is suppose to be on the front or rear of machine not the side. If the cop told you the side he does not know the rules.

 

[Harp]

County of Wetaskiwin passed this by-law years ago. There was a petition go around last year with no luck in changing the by-law.
The County councillors do a very good job in driving tourism away from Wetaskiwin County. I guess they don’t know that snowmobiling is a multimillion dollar tourism industry. The councillors should be forced to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to build and maintain a trail system to improve tourism in the area. There are lots of people in Wetaskiwin with sleds and ATV’s that simply trailer to more friendly open minded communities to spend our money and enjoy their hospitality.
Come to the snow drags in Wetaskiwin in March at the Reynolds museum. Just don’t ride your sled!!!
Great Job Councillors!!

 

[meierjn]

the plate by law is suppose to be on the front or rear of machine not the side. If the cop told you the side he does not know the rules.

Agreed!

 

[meierjn]

Below is the link for the Traffic Safety Act. Pay particular attention to the section on "Off-Highway Regulation" and the section on "Offenses and Penalties." There is a lot in it that I didn't know about...

 

[bigdog67]

I sure would like to know what grounds he had to threaten to impound your sleds.I am under the impression that if you are insured and registered ,the fine is all you should have got. Sounds like someone was on a bit of a power trip.

 

[Keeperswilly]

Nice avatar Bigdog, we are the unsung hero's....

 

[Summiteer]

the plate by law is suppose to be on the front or rear of machine not the side. If the cop told you the side he does not know the rules.

Or he may just be telling you what they find acceptable, in the rules or not.....

 

[Summiteer]

I sure would like to know what grounds he had to threaten to impound your sleds.I am under the impression that if you are insured and registered ,the fine is all you should have got. Sounds like someone was on a bit of a power trip.

Unless you have proof of ownership and valid insurance, they can impound.

 

[meierjn]

Unless you have proof of ownership and valid insurance, they can impound.

And that we did have and present to him.

 

[Teth-Air]

Just a warning for all of those that ride in the County of Wetaskiwin... We were out at Pigeon Lake for the family day weekend as we have been for the last 5 years. We rented 3 rooms at pigeon Lake Village for the family, kids, and relatives and planned on a nice weekend of sledding as we had had in the past. Well, on day two we get pulled over by one of the County Peace officers. He explains to us that we were breaking the law by riding in the ditch North/East of the Village to access the lake. I have to tell you we were nowhere near any major highway but I guess the definition of a highway according to the Alberta Traffic Safety Act includes ditches on any roadway, and not just the single and double numbered highway’s as I thought. We had never had issues with the RCMP there before! He then explained to us that he could impound the sleds and it would cost us about $1500-$2000 per sled when all was said and done. My brother-in-law and I were then each issued $230 tickets and both of our wives let off with a warning. Maybe I am just venting but I am doing a lot of research trying just to find out what is and isn’t legal. We had never had issues with the local RCMP before. Any help would be appreciated. The Peace Officer did give me the document in the link below. Let me know what you think.

Start a petition on this site to get the town to start a permit system like Whitecourt. You pay a buck and you get a sticker that is recognized by the RCMP as acceptable. Collect all the petitions and sell it to them as it relates to tourism dollars. We alll should do this where ever we ride near towns.

 

[polar sledhead]

County of Wetaskiwin passed this by-law years ago. There was a petition go around last year with no luck in changing the by-law.
The County councillors do a very good job in driving tourism away from Wetaskiwin County. I guess they don’t know that snowmobiling is a multimillion dollar tourism industry. The councillors should be forced to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to build and maintain a trail system to improve tourism in the area. There are lots of people in Wetaskiwin with sleds and ATV’s that simply trailer to more friendly open minded communities to spend our money and enjoy their hospitality.
Come to the snow drags in Wetaskiwin in March at the Reynolds museum. Just don’t ride your sled!!!
Great Job Councillors!!

And this is the reason you as a sledder should join ASA sled club there is better chance of having laws changed in numbers , Join a sled club you will find its easeier to get the point across or have help to get the Law changed, muti mucharo dollar bussness if they dont change the laws what will happen , locals will lose. and so will our kids when there is no were togo , Oh yeah suck about the fine as well but i have learned to fight them now, good luck

 

[sickcat05]

i would have just ran for it out here in stony the bloody peace officers (rent a cop) are ripping around on little 370 sleds and little 400 kodiaks even if they were to pursue they couldnt keep up with ya ive done it a couple times they arent as skilled on a quad or sled as most people are, you cant expect to throw a cop on a atv or sled and expect them to know how to ride

 

[rgutmann]

Nice avatar Bigdog, we are the unsung hero's....

I second that

 

[RXN]

I've Been fighting with Strathcona on this topic too. They sent thier By-law stating it follows Albertas. I just e-mailed Howard Greenway, he is a representative of the province in the area of off highway vehicle use. His e-mail address is howard.greenway@gov.ab.ca Maybe if enough of us hassle him some changes may be made to legalize this sport. In my copy of the by-law it states in section 5.3 Any person who contravenes a provision of this by-law is guilty of an offence and is liable to a penalty as follows:
5.3.1 For first offence - Fifty dollars ($50.00)
5.3.2 For a second and any subsequent offence - One Hundred dollars ($100.00)

5.4 Under no circumstances shall any person contravening any provision of this by-law be suject to the penalty of imprisionment.

I also started a group on Facebook "Make Snowmobiling Legal in Strathcona County". I'm getting no where with the councilors of Starthcona, so now I'm starting in on Alberta, We should be treated fairly and allowed to ride responsibly and respectifully in the ditches.

Thats my thoughts anyways.

 

[Highmaintenence]

For sure, i was pulled over this past Saturday by a peace officer. The guy was great, I had all my paper work (ins, reg) so I had no problems. My buddy had no regiastration so he was fined $115 and the officer let me sled home to get a truck to pick up my buddies sled (he went and got his reg right after). The peace officer actually said he endorsed ATV's in county of parkland but wanted riders to respect private property and obey speed laws (50 KM/HR in hwy ditch, 30 KM/HR in secondary ditches). Guy actually went on to say if he sees an ATV in/on a single number highway as long as they are not in the median he doesn't bother! He was the head of the OHM department! Finally someone on our side!!

 

[DV8ED Digger]

I sure would like to know what grounds he had to threaten to impound your sleds.I am under the impression that if you are insured and registered ,the fine is all you should have got. Sounds like someone was on a bit of a power trip.

x2... My Peace Officer story is related to a motorcycle but some parallels can be drawn from my experience.

I was pulled over because I had changed my rear signal lights from OEM to LED. The new lights were brighter and more visible than the OEM ones. When I was pulled over I was on my way to the Victory dealership where I had purchased my Victory motorcycle and the P.O. followed me into the parking lot of the dealership. The P.O. told me that because the bike was 'modified' he could tow it. When I asked him what the law was regarding visibility of signal lights he got really upset and told me that if he had to look it up he would definately tow the bike.
I asked him why he would tow it when it was actually sitting at the dealership where any deficiencies could be repaired and he didn't have an answer for me.
He gave me the stink-eye and a stern verbal warning and then left me alone.

He did not know the law (signal lights must be visible at 500') and was using the tow-job as a bluff.

 

[Highmaintenence]

Same here! Ive been pulled over in County of Parkland...very good to deal with. My buddy had no reg but the Peace Officer let me fly home to get a truck to bring buddy home instead of towing!

 

[ponyboy]

last winter on hwy 22 between buck lake and hwy 39 , i was with my kids . 4 sleds in total , no plates , reg, insurance. seen a cop down the road , had someone pulled over so we stopped . he was between us and home . so i decided that this is as good a place to have lunch as any. 10 min later the car turned around , he pulled up beside us and asked if we were having a good day ? , and how is the snow ? it is great i said , we are just on our way home , he just waived and said have a nice day , then drove away:d:d

 

[meierjn]

last winter on hwy 22 between buck lake and hwy 39 , i was with my kids . 4 sleds in total , no plates , reg, insurance. seen a cop down the road , had someone pulled over so we stopped . he was between us and home . so i decided that this is as good a place to have lunch as any. 10 min later the car turned around , he pulled up beside us and asked if we were having a good day ? , and how is the snow ? it is great i said , we are just on our way home , he just waived and said have a nice day , then drove away:d:d

Got to like stories like that!